Cycle of Tragedies
by Sea Nako
Summary: Anatra gets a role of Ahiru who is secretly Princess Tutu in a ballet held in the Deeley Theater. How will she hold this lead role that everyone thinks should belong to Ruth, the ballerina playing Rue; a black haired graceful beauty. How will the ballet affect her as her reality starts to blur and becomes Drosselmeyer's puppet along with the other dancers.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer! I do not own Princess Tutu. I wish I did, but I don't! :D Now read, relax and review~

* * *

Once upon a time…there was a man who died. In his death, a story was made alive through the ones who were chosen. A duck, a prince, a raven; roles that were filled and end in their own death. As the story plays out the characters wish for it to end, but there is no end to this cycle of tragedies.

It starts in a bar…

A young woman of a petite nature and red hair pulled back in a messy bun, was distracted from her job as a waitress by watching a ballet play on the television with in the bar. The ballet of Swan Lake, she sighed as she was pretending to do the _pas de duex_ with her imaginary Siegfried, "So beautiful… I wish I could dance again.."

Her boss from afar was glaring at her because she wasn't paying attention to a customer that just came in from the storm that was brewing outside. "I can see you almost gained your wish, Miss Ana! Or should I call you Odette!" He called her out in which she flinch back into reality, "Do you want to place into clean up duty or…" He seemed to sweat a little and breath heavily, "Or do-do you wish to-to ma-marr-"

She felt this threat and was petrified at what he was going to say next, so she goes to the closest customer that came into their bar, "H-how many are with you today?"

Her boss scoffed and he went on cleaning the beer mugs that were near him, knowing that he might have to threaten her again later.

The elderly customer that Ana went to chuckled at her nervousness, "It's just me today.. Would it be okay if sat in a booth by myself?"

"Oh yes of course!" She looked around after realizing how empty the bar was tonight. "You can seat yourself if you wish."

He nodded and entered further as he took off his top hat. Ana looked at him, she could tell that he might be a famous business man due to this attire, either that or just came from a…as she would put it _'fancy ball or something.' _Other than the black top hat he wore a tuxedo with black shiny shoes and a walking cane with a swan head on the top.

"Aren't you going to ask him what he wants, Ana…." She heard her boss hissed at her. "O-o-f course, Mr. Katze!" She took out her note pad and hurried over to the customer as she almost tripped over a chair.

"Wh-what can I get for you, Mr…."

"Mr. Ross Deeley." The customer chortled to her. "You seem to be very lively today, ma'am."

"Eh? Re-really? I'm just a little nervous," which could be heard in her voice when is cracked a little, "It happens to be my first day."

"I see. Do you want to try and ask me again then?"

She oddly felt encouraged, "What can I get for you, Mr. Deeley?" For some reason that name sounded familiar to her.

"Do you serve tea here?"

"U-uh, y-yes we do," She smiled a little, "This bar is sort of a café too."

"Well then, I would like to have …..Earl Grey tea if you have it."

"Righto!" She wrote it down and went to bar where her boss was, "Do we have Earl Grey tea?"

"Yes. It will be ready in a moment." Her boss starts to prepare the tea.

During this, she reflects back to the ballet she viewed a moment ago. Oh how she wished to dance again, maybe even in a ballet or a play or in the Deeley Th-. She slams her hands on the counter top of the bar. "That's why the name seems so familiar!" The slam startled Katez and soon angered him.

After he placed the tea on the counter he started to lecture her, "Miss Anatra, do you realized that I almost spilled this tea because of your slam a-"

"I figured it out!" She hastily took it even though it was burning her hands and almost dropped it on the way to the customer.

Deeley seemed to be amused by her silliness, "Thank you for the tea." He took it from her and took a sip.

"Ummm…" She quickly sat down in front of him. "Do you happen to be related to the owner of the Deeley Theater?"

He glanced up at her, "Indeed I am. I own it."

"Y-you do?!"

"Yes." He noticed she was looking at him with wonder, "In fact there is a production about to be played there. Would you like to audition for a spot? It is a ballet."

"I-I-I would love to…b-but I haven't done ballet in such a long time." She became moody, "A-nd I'm not part of any dancing school too."

The elderly man drank some of his tea, "Just come and audition. I believe you are perfect for one of the roles. We start auditions at 10 am tomorrow at the theater. Come prepared with ballet gear and such." He finished his tea and placed $20 on the table. "For now I bid you a farewell."

"Huh? O-oh! Come again then! And thank you for the offer."

He seemed to evilly snicker which puzzled Anatra when he left. She sighed, she didn't know if she was to be excited at the offer or worried about embarrassing herself if she were to go. She grabs the money for the tea along with the empty cup and heads to the bar again. Once she placed it on the counter, she thought she saw a black feather float down to the floor near by her. She picks it up and looks at it, _'How did this get here….'_

* * *

Thank you for reading my first ever fan fiction! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the review and the read!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer! I do not own Princess Tutu. I wish I did, but I don't! :D Now read, relax and review.

* * *

Once upon a time, there was once a beautiful swan. It has much grace and elegance. To think it was once an ugly duckling…. Or is it still the same duck that it was before …and now showing a side that it wishes you to see.

An elegant dark haired angel practiced her audition piece in the practice room that was part of the Theater. The other ballerinas were trying to practice, but they were distracted by the girl.

"It's so elegant. Her dance style reminds me of a ballerina playing as Odette, you know," A purple haired girl commented to her curly haired friend.

"True. But it lacks sorrow. You know a personality."

"Sorrow? She doesn't sorrow; sure it lacks character but she doesn't need sorrow! Now she needs the prince."

"Nnnnn~ I feel like she is going to get the part of prima no fair!"

Two males came into the room; both were handsome but one seemed to be more chipper than the other.

"Ruth!" The white haired one called over to the "dark angel". He hurries toward her before she could have fallen. He smiled at her and twirled her around, "Are you ready for the audition today? ^^ Which dance are you going to do?"

Ruth giggled and hugs him after he twirled her, "Michael! I thought you had your recital today?!"

"Well… actually.. it was cancelled for today. So I decided to come here instead and maybe audition like how we originally planned to do," he smiled slyly which confused her a bit.

The spectators were whispering to each other since they worried that he was their biggest competition due to his sneaky smile.

"Oh? So I'm supposed to believe you are probably not here to babysit me instead? I hope that's not the case, 'cause I would be angry if Papa asked you to do this," She gave him a mildly annoyed smile.

"W-what? No. Of course not," his hesitant voice made her assume that she just foiled his assignment. "We came to audition! Right, Frank?" He turned around to look for his dark-haired companion then realized that his dearest friend was leaving the practice room, ditching Michael so he won't be involved with this mess.

"Frank-" He tried to call out for his friend, but Ruth grabs his arm suddenly and drags him to the bar.

"Okay then let's start practicing together then! Let's warm up first, then we could practice our _pas de duex," _He could tell from her voice that she was pissed that her close friends only came to see her because her father asked them to babysit her. He was so screwed.

* * *

Frank thought to himself on how luckily he was too narrowly escape being dragged down by Michael's silliness as he wandered around the back rooms of the Deeley Theater. He started fiddle with the audition invitations that he and Michael got. The thought of auditioning for a pointless play sickened him; perhaps because he feared actually auditioning in front of a crowd, or he just didn't feel that he wasn't worthy enough to. Auditioning just never crossed his mind… but now he is here at the theater just for that, along with his friend, Michael. He scanned for an exit to get out of the theater so he could maybe clandestinely leave, after all he didn't belong there he believed.

In front of him was an exit, maybe a feeling of release. A door just dangling his freedom in front of him. It could be finally a way he could leave this story before it even began….

_Crash!_

He turned around startled and looking around to where the sound came from. He thought that someone cared enough to stop him from leaving, but it turns out to be a commotion coming from the dressing room where the auditionees left their stuff in.

Even though he was so close to freedom, he noticed that the door for the dressing room was slightly open and could see a shadow of someone rummaging through someone's belongs. His unselfishness hit him, it made him turn around and head to the dressing room; where he opened the door wider and glared at the so-called culprit.

"Hey," He called out to the culprit who was a girl around his age, which was about late teens to early 20s, with her red hair tied up in a messy bun; she appeared to be wearing a waitress uniform from the Katz Bar and Café that was down the street.

The red-hair girl, Anatra, quickly looked at the guy leaning against the door way. He almost gave her a heart attack, she wasn't expecting someone to be spying on her. "O-oh hello?" She continued to look through her things, even though it made her look more suspicious to Frank.

"You shouldn't be here," He said glaring, "Only students from Edel's School of Ballet are allowed in these premises. Which you aren't."

"An-d how do you not know that I'm not one of them," she was trying to ignore his presence.

"Because it's a private school that doesn't allow people from a lower class to come back here and doesn't allow their students to have part-time jobs."

"W-well… That's because I was invited to come here."

"Right," She could hear the disbelief in his voice which was slowly pissing her off, "If you are invited, then you must be auditioning for the ballet... And I assume that you are going to perform it in your uniform?"

His suspicions of her was rising heavily by the seconds and she could sense it. She was thinking of ways to prove that she had a right to be here, yet she didn't have an actual document to show that she was invited too. She also remembered hearing stories about how they kick out uninvited guests if they didn't have the letter that they were invited to audition. With that realization, she slowly became uncomfortable, she was invited but. No, she is gunna try to stand her ground. She stood up and looked at him dead on trying to keep her confidence from breaking, "Look I don't have proof, but Mr. Deeley came to my workplace a-"

"I don't care. If you don't have proof then leave. It's for the best," He bitterly stated before he turned around and left her in the room.

Anatra slowly sat down on the floor dispirited. Her confidence was completely broken just by this confrontation. _This place is only for students from the Edel's School of Ballet_… Students who were taught professionally in a school. Not a mundane person who self-taught herself and haven't performed in public for a year. Maybe her style wasn't what they wanted. Her face grew flushed with embarrassment, now she wanted to leave. She hastily gathered all of her items and ran out the door of the dressing room before she could start crying. All she wanted to do now is just crawl up into a corner and cry.

Before she even looked for an exit, she body rushed through a big wooden door that reminded her of the heavy one she used to get into the building. Before she noticed where she was running blindly, she ran into person that was consumed a sudden ray of light. She heard a loud gasp then rambling of voices near her.

Wide eyed and even more embarrassed, Anatra quickly got off the person she just ran into, "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!" As she offered her hand to help the person up, she realized that the girl was dressed in a white ballet costume that glittered a little; it oddly reminded her of the costume used for the role of Odette from Swan Lake.

"Why did you do that!?" The girl, smacked Anatra's hand away due to her anger of her now ruined audition; she got up by herself and dusted herself afterwards.

"I didn't mean to! I-" Anatra started to feel heated up, and her heart dropped which she noticed was on the stage and was spotlighted by the glares from the audience other than the lights on stage. The feeling of, _'Oh shit. What have I've done,'_ washed over her, she just interrupted an audition. _'I need to go!' _"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll leave-"

"No you will not," a sudden voice came out from the audience, it came from a young woman probably in her thirties. She had strange pale, aquamarine hair and pale skin with makeup that oddly reminded Anatra of a doll. "Ms. Plumenoire, can you please return to the audience. You can redo you audition after hers."

_'Oh snap it's the director,'_ Anatra thought for a moment, "What?! Me audition?!"

"Yes. Mr. Deeley told me how you wanted to audition for my ballet. Now please tell me what you are going to perform, I want to see why you were invited," Her soft voice said bluntly. She was secretly hoping that this "nice café waitress", as Deeley called her, wasn't actually going to come for an audition. Last time he invited a novice to audition, she had to call paramedics because the novice fainted while she was auditioning.

"U-uh…it's the solo that Giselle does in Act 1," Anatra mutters in embarrassment while there were soft giggles that were coming from the audience.

"I see…" the 'doll' looks back to the sound booth as if she wanted to get a confirmation that they even have the music to play that scene. Unfortunately for her the sound guy gave her a thumbs up meaning that they have it. She cussed under her breath, "You are very lucky today, Ms. Uh.."

"Anatra."

_'Isn't that duck in Italian?_' she quickly thought when she looked at her with slight amazement, '_Hmmm maybe if she does badly I could assign her the role of Duck.' _"Right, Ms. Anatra. Please get into position then."

Anatra quickly took off her sneakers and put them to the side and goes into position off to the right of the stage, while there were still giggles from the crowd. Those auditionees, who were probably "professional or semi-professional" students from Edel's School of Ballet, always oddly enjoy seeing novices try out for professional parts. Maybe Mr. Deeley wanted to have them calm down and have a laugh by watching a novice audition and poorly perform a ballet piece.

The music started to play and Anatra started to dance like a graceful swan. She completely played the part of a girl who is in love with so much delight in her eyes. Some scoffed muttering that any novice could do that, the hard part was coming up. Where the prima has to do pointe on one foot while jumping up and down for a good solid 20 seconds along with kicking her leg out. It would have to be elegant and it would have to be on toe shoes. Which one of them Anatra didn't have, at least. (Author's note: The link to the dance Anatra is doing is at the end of this chapter.)

She twirled one last time before the part the audience was anticipating for and prepared to do this part that they were thinking she was going to epically fail. She lifted up the tip of her waitress skirt to pretend she was wearing a long flowing dress and started to do that part of the routine. She continued to hop elegantly while performing this pointe routine, and appeared not to be in pain or exhausted from this endurance like dance. It was like she was performing within a high class ballet. Not only that, but her dance style and character oddly reminded them of this online dancer who used to be very famous a couple of years ago until she stopped uploading videos.

To the crowds' surprise she was successfully able to pull that section off without wearing toe shoes. In fact they just realized that she did well the beginning which was basically all pointe techniques to begin with! Most of them were too distracted mentally to watch her finish off the dance, but Ruth wasn't. She gulped a little, wondering how the hell she was going to pull off her audition. She had to follow up to this sudden amazing performance that she wasn't expecting to see. So far all the other auditions were to be expected from recent graduates from the ballet school. But this was absolutely not foreseen. It didn't help that her friend, Michael, was completely taken by the performance. Luckily, Frank was there to make him stay in his seat so he didn't give her a standing ovation when Anatra finished dancing and was receiving an applause.

"Very good, Ms. Anatra….. If you want you can sit in the audience and watch the rest of the auditions," the "doll" commented as she was writing something down on her clip board. "Ms. Plumenoire! You are next!"

Anatra's heart was being a mile a minute before she could even mutter a "Th-thanks!", to the supposed director. She collected her things and pretty much ran down the stage stairs while Ruth was slowly going up the stairs. It appeared that Anatra was probably going to leave the theater because she ran pass the seats where the auditionees were sitting. Yet, instead she decided to secretly watch the rest of the auditions in the back of the theater and cheer them on in silence.

* * *

The dance Anatra did can be found here (or search for "Svetlana Zakharova dancing Giselle, Act 1, Variation" in youtube): watch?v=nbCdrKrAOmk

Thank you for reading my fan fiction! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the review and the read!


End file.
